Winslet's husband seeks photos ban

Kate Winslet's husband is mounting a High Court fight in an attempt to stop a tabloid newspaper printing photographs taken at a private fancy dress party with an "outrageous" theme.

Ned RocknRoll said there is no public interest in The Sun publishing the photographs - taken more than two years ago. He said he is not a role model and had been a "relative nobody" prior to his marriage to Kate late last year.

His lawyers told a High Court judge that publication would be a breach of privacy and could lead to the actress' children being bullied.

But The Sun said Ned - a nephew of tycoon Sir Richard Branson - had "propelled" himself into the position of "public figure".

Bosses said his conduct at the party in July 2010 might be regarded as "unacceptable". And the newspaper's lawyers told Mr Justice Briggs that a "public interest" argument had arisen.

Mr Justice Briggs today heard legal argument from both sides at a hearing - which continues tomorrow - in London. Part of the hearing was held in private.

Little detail of what the photographs showed emerged during the public section of the hearing. The judge was told that photographs had been posted on a Facebook page belonging to Mr RocknRoll's friend, James Pope. He heard that Mr RocknRoll had been wearing a costume and could be seen "partly naked".

Kate, 37, and 34-year-old Ned - who changed his name from Abel Smith - married in New York in December. The actress has a son and a daughter and has been married twice before.

The court was today told that Ned was a marketing consultant and had been head of marketing for Sir Richard's Virgin Galactic business - which promotes space travel - before taking up sheep farming.

His legal representative David Sherborne told Mr Justice Briggs that the photographs had been taken at a private fancy dress party which was "innocent and well-intentioned". "The photographs were taken by a private individual. They were not intended to be seen by the world at large," said Mr Sherborne.